Disruptive Hawaii flight passenger sentenced to time served

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher

FILE - This May 19, 2017 file image made from video provided by Hawaii News Now shows Anil Uskanli in the back of a sheriff's car as he is driven away from the plane after being detained. Uskanli who disrupted a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu won't receive additional jail time and must pay American Airlines more than $8,500. Uskanli was sentenced Monday, Nov. 20, to the six months that he has spent locked up. (Hawaii News Now via AP, File)

November 20, 2017 - 3:48 PM

HONOLULU - A Turkish man who said a hallucination about a butterfly caused him to disrupt a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu won't receive additional jail time under terms of his sentence handed down Monday.

Anil Uskanli was sentenced to the six months that he has spent locked up since the incident that triggered bomb-threat procedures and officials to scramble fighter jets to escort the plane to Honolulu. He was also ordered to pay American Airlines more than $8,500.

Uskanli's behaviour on the May flight was concerning, including when he walked to the front of the plane with a blanket wrapped around his head and carrying a laptop crew members feared contained explosives, prosecutors have said.

After Uskanli returned to his seat and with an off-duty officer sitting with him, the laptop remained on a drink cart, which prompted the captain to initiate bomb-threat procedures.

The Hawaii National Guard scrambled two fighter jets to escort the plane to Honolulu. The secretary of Homeland Security was briefed.

Last month when he pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew, he blamed his behaviour on the hallucination.

A butterfly suddenly came out of the pocket of the seat in front of him, Uskanli said at his guilty plea hearing. He said the butterfly was going crazy and he tried to kill it.

He said he now realizes that he was ill and hallucinating.

Uskanli raised other red flags while still at Los Angeles International Airport, but experts said a lack of communication and an airline's hesitancy to be caught on video booting a passenger played a role in allowing him to fly. In April, a United Airlines incident in which a passenger was dragged off an overcrowded plane drew widespread attention.

Uskanli had purchased a ticket at an airline counter in the middle of the night with no luggage and was arrested ahead of the flight to Hawaii after opening a door to a restricted airfield. Airport police said he smelled of alcohol but was not intoxicated enough to be charged with public drunkenness, so he was given a citation and released.

"Our office is happy with the sentence and we think it was fair in this case," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early.

A deportation hearing is scheduled for next week, said Gary Singh, his immigration attorney. "He just wants to go home," Singh said.

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